Shank Studio Says Xbox Woes Aren't Microsoft's Fault

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Shank Studio Says Xbox Woes Aren't Microsoft's Fault


Shank developer Klei Entertainment [http://kleientertainment.com/] has clarified that the stuttering and Achievement glitches in the Xbox 360 version of the game are not, as was earlier suggested, the console's fault.

Owners of the 360 version of Shank, which came out earlier this week, have reportedly experienced stuttering in the game's video sequences as well as a glitch in how some of the game's Achievements are awarded. The first problem was apparently simple enough to correct as Klei founder Jamie Cheng said earlier today that a fix is already available to ensure that everyone gets their Achievements. As for the video issue, that, he said, was simply a matter of fragmented disks. "It appears that some Xbox 360's are having slower disc access rates due to fragmentation, so the opening cinematic chugs, and loading between levels takes longer," he explained. He also noted that the "game experience" is unaffected by the problem.

I suspect that, not long after his explanation went public, somebody's telephone rang, or perhaps there was a gentle knock at the door. Whatever the motivation, several hours later the Cheng wrote [http://shankgame.com/]. "It's our own issue, and it took us by surprise because it didn't come up during certification. Time for us to go a-fixing!"

He further suggested that clearing the system cache may be of some help to people having trouble. "This isn't a fix (which we're working on), but hopefully it'll help some people," he added.

Shank, a 2D side-scrolling beat-em-up currently available on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade, has earned widespread critical acclaim since its release. A PC version of the game is scheduled to come out later this year.



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Darktau

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Mar 10, 2009
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Wait... the 360 hard drive fragmenting is causing the game to run slow, but don't worry it's not the 360's fault? WHAH?
 

Sixties Spidey

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Jan 24, 2008
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Meh. Some games that have a 360 version tend to have certain problems. I mean, look at Assassin's Creed II on the 360. Oh well, hope they fix it soon. *continues playing the PS3 version*
 

theSovietConnection

Survivor, VDNKh Station
Jan 14, 2009
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Are there any other games having acheivement problems on the 360? I mean, first I heard about Metro 2033, now Shank?
 

Gxas

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Darktau said:
Wait... the 360 hard drive fragmenting is causing the game to run slow, but don't worry it's not the 360's fault? WHAH?
I think he's saying that its their fault for not thinking about, or catching it, before release.
 

Eclectic Dreck

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Sep 3, 2008
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Darktau said:
Wait... the 360 hard drive fragmenting is causing the game to run slow, but don't worry it's not the 360's fault? WHAH?
Assuming a maximum read rate, disc fragmentation will cause a loss of performance if the required read speed is near said maximum. Normally you don't see such things because things are loaded into memory entirely (or mostly) before you begin execution. If you instead stream directly from hard drive to memory to the particular register being accessed (base processor or some sub processor like a dedicated video or sound processor), fragmentation becomes a direct, visible performance problem rather than the usual symptom of increased loading time.

If you want to assign blame, I suppose it depends entirely upon how the process works. If said video streams from the drive, to the memory to the register, presumably to shorten load time, or at least does so after a very brief cache period, then the fault often lies with the programmer. If the problem occurs even if you cache the content before you play, then presumably the lack of a ready defragmentation solution for the console would be to blame. To be honest, I've never checked to see if there is any solution already on the 360, but presumably it doesn't run by itself if it does exist.
 

Vilcus

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Jun 29, 2009
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buy teh haloz said:
Meh. Some games that have a 360 version tend to have certain problems. I mean, look at Assassin's Creed II on the 360. Oh well, hope they fix it soon. *continues playing the PS3 version*
Assassin's Creed II had problems on the 360? I never noticed any, and it ran fine when I played it.

OT: They didn't plan ahead, and didn't do enough testing to see if this problem would occur. While not entirely their fault, it is still their responsibility, and I'm glad they're pulling the blame off of Microsoft for once (so many people who just jump in and instantly bash the makers of a console moment a game has problems).
 

Jared

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Jul 14, 2009
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Well, there goes the theory I had all about it. Guess not something we can blame 360 for
 

SomeBritishDude

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Yeah, I just tried to play the trail. When the opening cut scene spends 10 minutes stopping and starting before it even get's past the intro credits I'm done.
 

Shycte

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buy teh haloz said:
Meh. Some games that have a 360 version tend to have certain problems. I mean, look at Assassin's Creed II on the 360. Oh well, hope they fix it soon. *continues playing the PS3 version*
I never experienced any problems with Ass Creed 2 other then the game itself being shit.
 

Sixties Spidey

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Jan 24, 2008
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Shycte said:
buy teh haloz said:
Meh. Some games that have a 360 version tend to have certain problems. I mean, look at Assassin's Creed II on the 360. Oh well, hope they fix it soon. *continues playing the PS3 version*
I never experienced any problems with Ass Creed 2 other then the game itself being shit.
Vilcus said:
buy teh haloz said:
Meh. Some games that have a 360 version tend to have certain problems. I mean, look at Assassin's Creed II on the 360. Oh well, hope they fix it soon. *continues playing the PS3 version*
Assassin's Creed II had problems on the 360? I never noticed any, and it ran fine when I played it.

OT: They didn't plan ahead, and didn't do enough testing to see if this problem would occur. While not entirely their fault, it is still their responsibility, and I'm glad they're pulling the blame off of Microsoft for once (so many people who just jump in and instantly bash the makers of a console moment a game has problems).
After completing the game the first time on the PS3, I played it once on the 360 at a friend's house (helping him get past a hard part for him),and I did notice that it chugged a bit during combat. At least that's what happened for me. It could've been the disc or the console itself, but it didn't run as smoothly on the 360 than it did on the PS3.
 

Shycte

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Mar 10, 2009
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buy teh haloz said:
Shycte said:
buy teh haloz said:
Meh. Some games that have a 360 version tend to have certain problems. I mean, look at Assassin's Creed II on the 360. Oh well, hope they fix it soon. *continues playing the PS3 version*
I never experienced any problems with Ass Creed 2 other then the game itself being shit.
Vilcus said:
buy teh haloz said:
Meh. Some games that have a 360 version tend to have certain problems. I mean, look at Assassin's Creed II on the 360. Oh well, hope they fix it soon. *continues playing the PS3 version*
Assassin's Creed II had problems on the 360? I never noticed any, and it ran fine when I played it.

OT: They didn't plan ahead, and didn't do enough testing to see if this problem would occur. While not entirely their fault, it is still their responsibility, and I'm glad they're pulling the blame off of Microsoft for once (so many people who just jump in and instantly bash the makers of a console moment a game has problems).
After completing the game the first time on the PS3, I played it once on the 360 at a friend's house (helping him get past a hard part for him),and I did notice that it chugged a bit during combat. At least that's what happened for me. It could've been the disc or the console itself, but it didn't run as smoothly on the 360 than it did on the PS3.
Must have been the disc, for me it run just perfectly.

Exept it was shit.